Roar
by myrishlace
Summary: A stranger startles Sansa on her morning run, and she thwacks him in the face and breaks his nose. Turns out he was only returning the wallet she'd dropped. She drives him to the ER, and they discover they have a few things in common.


Personally, Sansa blamed Katy Perry, for had she not been listening to "Roar" for the umpteenth time on her iPod, she might have thanked the dark-haired stranger for returning the wallet she had just dropped, rather than whipping around so furiously when he'd touched her arm to get her attention that she broke his nose and sent him straight to the emergency room.

And now here she was, nervously running her finger along the arm of the flimsy aluminum chair in the waiting room with its buzzing fluorescent lights, desperately wanting to know just how badly she'd hurt him.

Pretty badly, don't you think, Sansa, since you broke his nose and the pain brought him to his knees? She'd driven him here, and wow, had there been a lot of blood.

She shuddered. She was thankful she'd had a towel from her Saturday morning yoga workout in the backseat that she could give him. He held it to to his face until they pulled up to the hospital.

She was pretty sure she'd babbled "I'm so sorry" and "and "I promise, we'll be there soon oh god you poor thing" and the worst, "are you okay?" like he could answer with a broken nose, as if they were passing the time of day.

He'd looked so sweet and concerned too, with beautiful brown eyes, as he held out the wallet. But that didn't stop her self-defense class training from kicking in. She'd acted on instinct and turned smoothly, connecting her elbow squarely with his nose.

And this was the second time she'd sent a guy to the ER with a serious injury.

Few people at school would believe it of her, but then she didn't exactly go around bragging about it.

She sighed. Joffrey had been the reason for those self-defense classes, and the reason she'd studied hard. Thank god he at least wasn't tailing her home anymore. She tapped out the beat under her breath.

I used to bite my tongue and hold my breath

Scared to rock the boat and make a mess

So I sat quietly, agreed politely

I guess that I forgot I had a choice

I let you push me past the breaking point

She'd let Joffrey follow her, until he tried to push her into an alley, and then – wham! The move had worked just like her teacher Brienne taught her, and she hated to admit it but the crunch had been satisfying. Joffrey had gone limping away, cursing her name.

Which had been pretty funny, considering how nasal he'd sounded.

"Ms. Stark?" The intern was looking at their oddly, and Sansa realized she had a smile plastered on her face from the memory.

Great. I sent a guy to the ER and now I'm grinning in the waiting room. They're going to think I'm a psychopath. I'm getting put on a watch list. Maybe I should be. Maybe-

"If you'd come with me, Ms. Stark." The intern's voice was gentle, so perhaps she hadn't looked as nuts as she thought. She followed the light blue lab coat. She had to thread her way through the crowded halls, dodging carts and doctors rushing by.

Finally, they arrived at room 2A, and she could see the handsome stranger through the glass. She flinched at the large white bandage on his nose. She did breathe a sigh of relief, though, when she saw he was sitting up.

"He's ready for visitors, Ms. Stark." She eased the door open and walked gingerly into the room, fighting the irrational urge to wave. She stood at the foot of the bed while a variety of machines beeped and whirred.

She'd braced herself for an indignant or angry look from him. Even contempt. Or all three, really, who's counting at this point? So she was momentarily taken aback when she saw humor, and…what was that, admiration in his eyes?

Plenty of pain, too, though. Her stomach churned. A glance at his chart told her his name was Jon Snow. She started apologizing again.

"I really, really, really am sorry, I know you were just trying to help, and thanks for rescuing my wallet and god, I can't imagine what this is like, I mean I broke my pinkie in third grade and that hurt, but your nose, it must be awful–"

He shook his head, and started to talk. Then he quickly realized that was a bad idea. He picked up a pad of paper and a pencil on his bedside table.

Broke my leg before. This isn't so bad. Sorry I startled you.

She closed her mouth after a minute. "Um, it's absolutely fine, did you miss the part where I broke your nose?"

He started writing again.

Self-defense classes with Brienne?

She cocked her head. "Yeah, how did you know?"

More scratches on the pad. My karate teacher. The best. She loves that elbow move.

"She does, totally, she really helped me a lot after this creep started following me, well, not just any creep, my boyfriend, ex-boyfriend, I broke his nose too when he was stalking me after classes and I can't believe I did it again, you seem like a good guy, and you got a crack across the face for your trouble."

Better safe rather than sorry. It's okay. He sounds like an asshole.

Sansa couldn't help it, she laughed, at how earnestly Jon kept writing down answers, how determined he was to have a conversation with her. She hiccuped. She might, just might be slightly hysterical. But her pulse was slowing down. There was something about being around Jon that was calming.

"Are you here overnight?"

There was that half-smile again. Not for a broken nose. Out in a few hours. You don't have to wait, it's nice of you, but I'm sure you're busy.

"Jon, I am staying right here until you get out and then I'm taking you wherever you need to go." She folded her arms for emphasis. It was the honorable thing to do. His gorgeous eyes didn't figure into it.

He handed the pad to her again.

Was it Roar? Heard you singing before you dropped the wallet.

Sansa flushed. And now he knew her taste in pop music. Of course he did. Could this get any more embarrassing? She closed her eyes briefly.

"Yep, that's me, Katy Perry fan, I love that song." She gave him a tremulous smile.

Wait was she flirting with this guy in his hospital bed?

He started scratching again.

So do I.

"A buff guy who takes karate classes loves Roar?"

He shrugged, and it was so casual, so clear that he wasn't coming onto her, that she fell a little bit in love with him.

And he hadn't been kidding either. Three weeks later, as she was stretching at the end of her self-defense class, she heard someone humming the first few bars of Roar. There was Jon, taking off his shoes at the far end of the studio. He hadn't seen her yet. As it turned out, his class was right after hers.

Brienne gave Sansa a strange look. "Are you two acquainted?"

Sansa smiled. "You could say that." Although I guess my elbow met his nose first.


End file.
